Friday Apple Rumors: Low Cost iPhone to Have 4-Inch Screen

by Christopher Freeburn | March 15, 2013 1:11 pm

Friday Apple Rumors: Low Cost iPhone to Have 4-Inch Screen

[1]Here are your Apple rumors[2] and AAPL news items for today:

Size Matters: Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL[3]) lower-priced iPhone model aimed at emerging markets will have a smaller screen than earlier reports suggested[4], AppleInsider notes. Previous reports indicated that the low cost iPhone would come with a 4.5-inch screen. However, KGI Securities analysts Ming-Chi Kuo says that, according to his sources inside Apple’s supply chain, the company settled on a 4-inch screen for the cheaper iPhone in 2011. With plans for the phone already in place, the company is unlikely to move toward a larger screen, even as the market moves in that direction. The low cost iPhone model will ditch the iPhone 5′s aluminum and glass casing in favor of plastic and will be available in a wide array of colors, similar to Apple’s iPod line.

Observation: Samsung CEO J.K. Shin told the Wall Street Journal that Microsoft‘s (NASDAQ:MSFT[5]) attempt to carve out market share in mobile devices[6] isn’t going well. Shin said that Windows-based tablets and smartphones “aren’t selling very well” and called demand for Windows-based mobile devices “lackluster” in Europe. Samsung has partnered with Microsoft on a small number of phone running Window 8. However, the company recently dropped Windows RT tablets in Germany and said it wouldn’t sell the tablets in the U.S. The company’s top selling smartphones and tablets run Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG[7]) Android OS.

More Litigation: Apple is being sued over defective screens in some Retina MacBook Pros[8], Law360 notes. Lingering images of content previously displayed on the screens — called ghosting — has been reported in some models. The screens that exhibit ghosting appear to have been manufactured by LG. Apple purchases displays for its Retina MacBook Pros from both LG and Samsung. One frustrated Retina MacBook Pro owner has filed a class action lawsuit in California alleging that Apple failed to warn buyers of the problem and identify units with LG screens so consumers could make a choice.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors[9] stories.